Protecting the One I Love Most

"What are you saying, Demiurge! By what right do you make such a demand of Lord Ainz!"

Albedo was stunned at first, but then a surge of fury welled up within her. She snapped at Demiurge; had this been Lord Ainz's own opinion, she certainly would not have uttered a word of protest.

"By what right do I make such a demand?" Demiurge's expression suddenly darkened, and he demanded sharply, "You know full well what you have done, do you not? As a Guardian, have you properly protected Lord Ainz!"

"Er..."

"Lord Ainz allowed you to remain by his side as a sign of his trust! Yet you have betrayed that trust! If not for the fact that Lord Ainz is unharmed, even death would not be enough to atone for your sin!" Demiurge continued his interrogation, but his words left the other Guardians stunned.

"Eh? Demiurge, what happened to Lord Ainz?" Shalltear asked.

"What has befallen Lord Ainz?" Cocytus, of the insectoid race, asked next, his massive mandibles clacking together.

"Did something happen at that village, Demiurge?" Sebas had been by Momonga's side at the time; after a moment of reflection, he concluded that this was the only possibility.

After Lord Ainz decided to provide relief, the various Guardians had remained on their respective floors to stand guard. Only Albedo, Aura, Mare, and fifteen Eight-Edge Assassin Bugs had accompanied Lord Ainz.

However, not long ago, Albedo had summoned all the Guardians to the Throne Room without specifying the reason. Sebas had guessed that perhaps Lord Ainz had returned triumphantly from the village.

But it appeared that was not the case; could something have gone wrong?

"Eh? What is going on?" Momonga watched the scene unfold, feeling bewildered, though he soon understood after a moment of thought.

Could it be that Albedo had not informed the others about what happened at Carne Village?

"Ah!!!!"

Momonga was instantly filled with regret. Due to the turbulence of his emotions and the chaotic thoughts that followed, he had overlooked the most important thing: he should have instructed Albedo, Aura, and Mare to keep the incident a secret for the time being.

Because he had been so emotionally agitated at the time, he had been preoccupied with how to explain his own death, never even considering this.

His resurrection point in the guild was the Round Table Conference Room, a place almost no one ever visited. This meant that, aside from Albedo and the twins, no one knew he had been killed.

This would have allowed him to contain the loss of his authority. He could have negotiated with the three of them privately to ensure their silence, even if it meant granting them some unreasonable requests.

Hmm... wait...

That's not right. Why would Demiurge know? Looking at the current situation, Albedo clearly hadn't told anyone. Could it have been Aura or... Mare?

Momonga looked at the Elf Twins, whose expressions were filled with unease, and fell into deep thought.

Albedo's face was deathly pale. She opened her mouth, but no words came out, for what Demiurge said was the truth. It was indeed her failure that had led to Lord Ainz being killed. She had not been unaware of the movement behind her, but she had been a step too slow.

Lord Ainz had brought her along based on a consideration of party composition. Lord Ainz was a Magic Caster, and it would be troublesome if an enemy were to close the distance; her role was to keep enemies at a certain distance from him.

But she had failed to do so. She did not need Demiurge to point it out; she was already deeply ashamed. However, she had absolutely no intention of hiding the matter.

Yet, since Lord Ainz had not ordered her to relay this to the Guardians, she dared not act on her own initiative.

"Oh my, Gorilla-mouth, what did you do to make Demiurge so angry? Tell us so we can all hear." Shalltear asked Albedo with a mocking laugh.

She was naturally delighted to see her rival, who competed with her for Lord Ainz's affection, in such a predicament, but she was cut off by Demiurge in the next moment.

"Please mind your words, Shalltear. We are currently discussing a very serious matter." Demiurge adjusted his glasses and said in a low voice.

"Yes, yes." Shalltear did not seem to care about Demiurge's attitude and continued, "Fine then, back to the point. What exactly did Albedo do to make you propose such a thing to Lord Ainz?"

"Removing Albedo as Overseer of the Guardians is a major event. Please explain the reason," Cocytus also asked.

Sebas remained silent. He already had a vague suspicion, but as long as Lord Ainz did not speak, these were merely guesses.

"Lord Ainz?" Demiurge looked toward Momonga, asking with his eyes if he should be more tactful, as in his view, the fault for this incident lay entirely with Albedo and had nothing to do with Lord Ainz.

Even if Lord Ainz had been killed, it did not mean Lord Ainz's power was lacking; it was entirely Albedo's failure that had caused such a result.

However, he had to consider Lord Ainz's dignity. If Lord Ainz did not wish for the fact of his death to be known, he would not speak of it, framing it merely as being repelled.

But if he did that, Albedo's fault would be infinitely minimized, and her punishment would likely be swept under the rug. Demiurge did not wish to see such an outcome.

He held no personal grudge against Albedo; he viewed the matter from a strictly professional standpoint. He believed that Albedo's competence was no longer sufficient for her position.

Momonga felt perplexed by the look Demiurge gave him, not knowing what he meant. He guessed that Demiurge was likely asking if he agreed to inform the Guardians.

Since things had reached this point, there was no choice but to make it public; it was impossible to hide it any longer.

"Speak, Demiurge."

Momonga said.

"Yes, Lord Ainz." Demiurge turned to face the Guardians.

"Lord Ainz, I am willing to accept any punishment. Today, when we were attacked by the enemy, I failed to perform my duty of protecting Lord Ainz, leaving him alone to face the enemy, which ultimately led to Lord Ainz being repelled. Your subordinate is ready to accept punishment."

Just as Demiurge was about to speak, Albedo suddenly lowered her body, knelt before Momonga, and loudly recounted the sequence of events.

As soon as Albedo's voice faded, gasps of shock rippled through the room.

"Lord Ainz was repelled?" Shalltear was incredulous.

"Someone actually defeated Lord Ainz?" Cocytus was equally disbelieving.

"Aura, Mare, what were you doing?" Sebas looked at the Elf Twins and demanded.

"W-we..." Mare stammered, unable to answer a single word.

"We fell... we fell into the enemy's trap," Aura replied in a small, dispirited voice.

Just as everyone was whispering among themselves, Demiurge chuckled and stared at Albedo. "Are you trying to shirk your responsibility?"

"No, I have absolutely no such intention," Albedo snapped, whipping her head around to shout.

"Then why do you not dare to speak the truth of the matter?" Demiurge pressed on, step by step.

"I..." Albedo gritted her teeth, glaring at Demiurge.

She naturally understood the meaning behind Demiurge's gaze; while Ainz-sama did not care about his own reputation, she could not afford to be indifferent to Ainz-sama's.

Even if it meant defying Ainz-sama's wishes, even if it meant accepting any punishment, she wanted to protect her beloved Ainz-sama.